One of the primary responsibilities of our staff is to make every effort to meet the needs of our students. This past spring, our new Student Government Association (SGA) President James Wilson brought forth an idea about offering financially viable dining plan options for students who do not live on campus. James’ experience as a commuter student and hearing from other commuter students led to the belief that adding block rate dining plans for non-resident students would enhance their campus life experience. He recalls spending time with classmates up until they went to eat at a campus dining hall.
“When my classmates went to the dining hall to eat and hang out, I didn’t go with them because I didn’t have a dining plan,” Wilson said. “I felt I missed out on valuable connection time with my friends and fellow students.”
So, he did what any good leader would do; he went to work to address this issue. He first met with Panther Dining where he found staff willing to help. He explained,
“At Panther Dining I mostly worked with Suzanne Paltz, Director of Panther Dining, and Christy Lee, Food Services Business Manager, to find solutions to this issue, and truly felt a partnership in what we were trying to accomplish,” he said.
Wilson also worked with campus leadership on this initiative which has two main impacts for commuter students:
- On-campus dining options for commuter students allow for greater campus engagement for that part of our student population. So much student interaction happens over meals at our dining halls and non-residential students should be a part of that experience. Dining halls are also a major source of campus life activities information. Many students learn what is going on around campus at Patton, Piedmont Central, and Piedmont North dining halls.
- On-campus dining options for commuter students offer a consistent place for non-resident students to dine in the downtown area where healthy food options can be hard to find. While downtown restaurants can come and go, Panther Dining will always be available with healthy diverse dining options. This also allows commuter students to stay on campus for longer periods of time and engage in more student life and campus activities.
More information about the new dining plans for non-resident students can be found at Panther Dining.
All of us have an opportunity to make our campus better, and great ideas come from many different sources. The voice and actions of our students, represented by GSU student leadership, is the greatest inspiration we have. The implementation of new dining plan options for non-resident students represents what can be accomplished when we work together. Many thanks go to Panther Dining as well as our SGA President James Wilson for bringing this idea forward and doing the work to make it a reality.
L. Jared Abramson
Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer
